Air safety investigators said the pilots of two medical helicopters that collided on approach to a Flagstaff, Ariz., hospital June 29 each made errors before the accident that killed all seven people aboard the two craft.

One of the copters was operated by Englewood-based Air Methods Corp. for the Flagstaff Medical Center.

The National Transportation Safety Board cited “both helicopter pilots’ failure to see and avoid the other helicopter on approach to the helipad.”

The NTSB noted federal regulations state that “pilots should remain constantly alert to all traffic movement within their field of vision as well as periodically scan the entire visual field outside of their aircraft to ensure detection of conflicting traffic.”

Visibility was about 10 miles around the time of the 3:47 p.m. accident, the NTSB said. The helicopters collided about one-quarter mile from the medical center.

The NTSB also cited the Air Methods pilot’s failure “to follow arrival and noise abatement guidelines” on his approach to the hospital and the other pilot’s failure to follow proper communications guidelines.

The NTSB said the pilot of the Air Methods helicopter approached the hospital from the south instead of “from a more easterly direction,” as mandated by helipad rules.

Had the Air Methods craft “approached from a more typical direction,” the other pilot “may have been more likely to see and avoid it,” the report said.

The NTSB said the pilot of the second craft, operated by Classic Helicopter Services of Page, Ariz., failed to contact a transport coordinator at the hospital’s communications center, as required.

Had the Classic pilot made the proper contact, the NTSB said, the “coordinator likely would have told him directly that another aircraft was expected at the helipad” and “he would have been more likely to look for the other aircraft.”

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